Weekly News Update: May 10, 2024
4 - 10 May 2024
Good morning,
Happy belated V-E day, everyone! On May 8, 1945 the Allied forces accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. Interestingly, the day isn’t really celebrated in the west, but Russia loves to go whole-hog. Since the day of Stalin, the USSR and later Russian Federation have used Victory Day as an opportunity to showcase its military power and to remind the world that at one brief moment, they were on the right side of history. For the second year in a row, Russia has only displayed a single tank—a WWII era T-34–during the parade. The reality is that Russia has suffered heavy losses of its systems in Ukraine, with the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stating this week that Russia cannot sustain the scale of its losses.
DefenseTech is at the forefront of the news this week with Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks outlining the systems and financing for the first tranche of the Replicator initiative. Unfortunately for the DoD, the systems being bought remain priced above the point they should be to achieve the widespread proliferation and use as truly attritable systems. Building our Defense subscriber and DIU head Doug Beck has called for a bigger, faster, and better funded repeat for Replicator’s Tranche 2.
On the topic of DefenseTech, there seems to be growing disagreement on its ability to improve precision, alleviate civilian casualties, and whether it favors the offense or defense. Palantir CEO Alex Karp faced off with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen (Ret) Mark Milley to discuss the extent to which new technologies can make warfare safer for noncombatants.
Quickly around the world: in the Middle East, Israel’s campaign to clear Hamas from Rafah has put the small country at odds with the Biden administration, which is threatening to withhold materiel should Israel enter Rafah. The idea of a NATO-like alliance is growing in popularity across parts of the IndoPacific, as western-aligned countries seek to curb China’s growing threat. In Europe, the EU is considering using frozen Russian money to finance Ukraine’s defense.
Perhaps most importantly, Polish soccer referee Szymon Marciniak robbed FC Bayern Munich of a game-equalizing goal in the second semifinal match against Real Madrid, with a blatantly bad offside call and refusing to review the VAR footage. Bayern was robbed of an opportunity for a repeat of the 2013 Champions League / Der Klassiker match against BVB Dortmund.
Let’s dive in to these and other issues surrounding aerospace and defense technology.
Weekly News Round Up
Military
U.S. Defense modernization and innovation
DIU launches new emerging tech portfolio (DS)
Special operators set to pick light machine gun in new caliber (DN)
Former Army Gen Milley, Palantir CEO Karp disagree on tech’s role in reducing civilian casualties (BD)
Submarine delays push SEALs to find new underwater approaches (DN)
Pentagon innovation chief calls for bigger, faster Replicator 2.0 (C4)
Hicks outlines systems, funding for first batch of Replicator, for which the DoD is overpaying (DN)
DoD announces new reciprocity guidance to streamline software adaptation (BD)
Army Futures head: ‘Tech makes defense stronger than offense’ (DO)
US special forces want longer reach for rockets, snipers, robots (MT)
Defense Tech Opportunities
DIU is seeking solutions to prototype and demonstrate quantum sensing to support several warfighter requirements (DIU)
Special operators seek a ‘military Google Glass’ (MT)
Army wants different GPS alternatives for different domains, including commercial tech (BD)
NGA wants industry’s help monitoring illegal activity in Indo-Pacific (SAM)
OSD R&E is planning a Technological Innovation Discovery Event (TIDE) in August to explore potential disruptions to technology and innovation (SAM)
SOF AT&L has issued a CSO to accelerate the application of commercially derived software innovation into deployable war fighting capabilities (SAM)
The Navy is seeking novel air and maritime Uncrewed Systems (UXS) to perform in an UXS test and demonstration event in September 2024 (SAM)
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
EU envoys agree to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine (RT)
Estonia had discussed sending non-front line troops to Ukraine: General (BD)
Putin warns of global clash as Russia marks victory in World War Two (RT)
NATO drone surveillance hours surge amid growing appetite for intel (C4)
Britain to expel Russian attaché in response to ‘reckless and dangerous activities’ by Moscow (AP)
Ukraine says it foiled a Russian spy agency plot to assassinate Zelenskyy (AP)
Denmark increases defense spending in view of Russian long-term war (DN)
China, Korea, and Asia
The idea of SEATO resurrects to counterbalance China (TH)
Philippines fires first anti-ship missile in South China Sea with US, Australian forces (USNI)
Japan’s defense chief calls for more counter-drone tech (C4)
Australia, China spar over fault in dangerous aircraft encounter (AP)
Chinese warships plan visit to Cambodia amid US worries (RT)
TikTok sues US to block law that could ban the app (AP)
US committee targets Georgia Tech's alleged ties to Chinese military-linked research (RT)
America’s military runs on rare earth metals, China owns the market on them (WSJ)
China suspected of hacking UK ministry of defense payroll system (BBC)
China has a lot more missiles — with US warships and bases in its sights (BI)
Middle East and Africa
Biden threatens to stop shipments to Israel, if they attack Rafah (NPR)
Netanyahu responds that Israel will go-it alone if need be (Ax)
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim 2 attacks in Gulf of Aden as Iran official renews nuclear bomb threats (AP)
U.S. Defense Industry News
Anduril touts Pulsar jammers that rapidly adapt to changing threats (C4)
Air Force nears Wedgetail deal with Boeing after jostle over costs (BD)
FAA opened a new Boeing inquiry (WSJ)
Capella Space automates vessel classification in satellite imagery (C4)
Leidos nabs $206M bid to update software for NGA analysts (BD)
Lockheed to deliver first F-35 for Poland this summer (DN)
Lockheed, Howmet settle lawsuit over F-35 titanium (BD)
Lockheed, Maxar ink agreement to enhance F-35 flying simulator (C4)
Northrop gets $7Bn for B-2 support through 2029 (ASF)
Starfish tests satellite rendezvous system, wins a $37.5M Space Force contract (GW)
Teledyne unveils Rogue 1 exploding drone sought by Marine Corps (C4)
Foreign Defense Industry News
Brunei orders six H145M helicopters from Airbus (DN)
French-German tank project company is closed to partners for now (DN)
Israeli Elbit’s new Red Sky air defense system goes public with first customer (BD)
Israeli labor dispute could disrupt production of Arrow 3 weapon (DN)
Sweden goes back to the drawing board for a next-gen warplane (DN)
Space
Air Force acquisition czar delays key milestone for ground moving target satellites (BD)
Unsurprisingly, Boeing has to scrub its first astronaut launch due to valve issue on rocket (AP)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency creating space intel hub (C4)
Sierra Space prepares to ship its Dream Chaser spaceplane to launch site (SN)
China’s Chang’e 6 Moon probe has a mysterious guest on board (TV)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
Russia starts developing nuclear power unit for joint lunar station with China, RIA says (RT)
Belarus launches nuclear drills a day after Russia announces them amid tensions with West (AP)
New details emerge of Russia’s potential nuclear space weapon (BD)
Iran to change nuclear doctrine if existence threatened, adviser to supreme leader says (RT)
Sam Altman takes nuclear energy company Oklo public to help power his AI ambitions (NBC)
AI, Robotics, & other Frontier Tech
Air Force Secretary flies in AI-powered fighter, says dogfight with manned aircraft was roughly even (AP)
Air Force team designs, 3D prints, launches new drone in under 24 hours (TP)
Microsoft deploys GPT-4 large language model for Pentagon use in top secret cloud (DS)
Defense think tank MITRE to build AI supercomputer with Nvidia (WP)
Saudi Arabia’s $100B AI fund will divest China if US asks (BBG)
US revokes export licenses for chips to Huawei (FT)
The US military is betting on geothermal energy sources (SMF)
A&D-Focused Finance
VC deal flow remains stagnant in Q1 (WSJ)
Airbus has finalized its acquisition of US company Aerovel, getting access to the latter’s Flexrotor vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone designed for intelligence gathering, as the aircraft maker seeks to join Replicator initiative (AB)
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri acquired Leonardo's Underwater Armament Systems in a deal that gives the submarine business a $447M EV (RT)
Eutelsat is exploring options including a sale for its ground station network that could value the portfolio at over $850M (BBG)
Defense companies keep up momentum on share repurchases, despite Navy leader’s criticism (BD)
Palantir beat Q1 revenue estimates and met on earnings thanks to remarkable success in marketing its AI products but nonetheless issued weak FY guidance (CNBC)
Starlink soars: SpaceX’s satellite internet surprises analysts with $6.6 billion revenue projection (SN)
Apple cofounder Wozniak's space data startup Privateer raised a $56.5M Series A led by Aero X Ventures (RT)
XTEND, an AI OS for humans to interact with drones and robots, raised a $40M Series B led by Chartered Group (FN)
Satellite navigation startup Xona raised a $19M Series A led by Future Ventures and Seraphim Space (PRN)
Important Reads
Charles Beame explains why it doesn’t make financial sense to try and refuel our current satellites.
Lighter Side
Keep building!
Andrew
Keep on dreaming.